I received, besides, a great deal of information from a young man who had lately come from the north, in order to study under the Sheikh. He belonged to the Welád Yoʿaza, a section of the tribe of the Méshedúf, which originally appears to have been of pure Berber extraction, being identical with the celebrated tribe of the Masúfa, but who, at present, have become Arabicised. He was evidently a man of a good family; but being now rather scantily supplied with food, he took refuge with me, in order to enjoy my hospitality. On this occasion I learned from him a great deal with regard to some districts of the desert, with which I had been unacquainted. In the same encampment, we received full confirmation of the news with regard to the progress of the French towards the south, and of their having taken possession of Wárgelá. The excitement produced in consequence was very great, and made my situation extremely difficult and dangerous. The Sheikh El Bakáy came twice in the same afternoon to me, expressing his intention of uniting the strength of the Tawátíye and the Awelímmiden in a common attack upon the French. But I endeavoured to show him the absurdity of such a proceeding, telling him that they themselves would gain nothing by such inconsiderate conduct, and would only furnish a fresh pretext to the French for penetrating farther into the interior. Moreover, I gave it as my opinion, that the latter, unless instigated, would not undertake such a thing as a military expedition to these distant regions, but would endeavour to open commercial intercourse with them in a peaceful manner. There the matter stopped for the moment. [Sidenote: Thursday, May 4th.] All the exertions of the Sheikh to persuade Ákhbi to return the property which he had taken by force from the tribes placed under the protection of the Awelímmiden being in vain, the latter broke up his encampment, in order to pursue his journey westward in search of new protectors and allies. To prevent the mischief which might result from this course, my friend followed, and I was obliged reluctantly to accompany him. The river had fallen considerably since I had last visited this district, and the scanty foliage of the lower part of the trees in the swampy tract which we traversed in the beginning of our march, bore evident testimony to the higher state of the water some time before.